A LSA supports in ur Breakfast Club to help students have a good, calm start to the day. Here, students can study or complete homework and have the support of a LSA to do this. It is a great time for students to organise themselves and prepare for the day ahead. Breakfast is also offered. 

The Learning Support area (BF8) offers a safe and calm environment for students who find the playgrounds and Rookery overwhelming. During break time and lunch time students can interact, socialise and play games.  Some students prefer to eat their packed lunch in our Learning Support area.

This club is run by an expereienced LSA at lunch times. It offers a safe and calm space to students who may be lonely or find it difficult to make friends.  There are a varierty of games available and allows students to socialise and interact with other students in a safe environment.

A Well-being club at lunch times offer a safe, calm and supported environment for our students who find the Rookery overwhelming. At lunch time our students can bring a pack lunch or are allowed to take Rookery food to the designated area. We want students to use this time to socialise in a safe environment where they can play games and there is a member of staff who is on hand to have a chat with any student who need it. 

Our Homework club runs every day within the Learning Support area and is supported by a LSA who is able to provide on hand support to students that may struggle to complete or organise their homework. We are proud of homework club as we have developed it to be an environment where students can feel supported and regularly complete their homework.  

Students with an EHCP or on Rooks Heath School SEND Register are eligible to receive a Learning Mentor. If a Learning Mentor is attached to a student, they will meet once a week. We see this as a valuable piece of the support jigsaw for some students. The Learning Mentor is a person who the student can go to when needed but will also regularly meet with their student to reflect on the week and plan for the week ahead. 

This is an evidence-based approach that aims to develop social communication skills, such as turn-taking, following rules, using names and aims to increase students’ problem-solving abilities.  This intervention is run in a small group.

Functional skills is used to build foundations for learners to progress inessential Maths and English skills.  The course is designed to develop student's English reading, writing, communication, and mathematical skills and to develop their confidence surrounding English and Maths. Students will then be assessed to either re-enter their GCSE equivalent subjects or have the option to sit a Functional Skills Entry Level exam with Level 2 being the equivalent to a GCSE grade 4. 

This is our Numeracy based intervention which consists of 2 x 30-minute sessions a week with our trained Learning Support Assistants to ensure that students are supported in address the 10 key component of numeracy:  

• Counting verbally 
• Counting objects 
• Reading and writing 
• Hundreds, tens and units 
• Estimation 
• Word problems 
• Translation 
• Remembered facts 
• Derived facts 
• Ordinal numbers 

This intervention is used for students who have memory difficulties and need support with their auditory and visual memory to supplement their learning in class. The intervention runs once a week for 8 weeks and are an hour long. The intervention involves activities that aid in both auditory and visual memory and give students techniques that they can then use in lessons to support their learning. 

Depending on the need of the new Year 7 students, they may require some sessions during the first half term to support their first few weeks at Rooks Heath School.

This is available to students who require the use of a laptop to aid in accessing lessons and are not confident with typing accurately. This intervention runs once a week for an hour and its primary aim is to ensure that students have fluent typing skills to ensure the laptop benefits their learning in class. 

This is a literacy-based intervention for students in High School who are struggling with reading and literacy. The programme is online platform that has been proven to be us to five times as effective as the average middle school reading intervention. The PowerUp programme enabled students to make multiple years of growth in a single academic year.  

The activities in PowerUp support and build on English language focusing on developing reading skills in three areas: word study, grammar, and comprehension. 

PowerUp uses a structured and systematic approach to filling in skill gaps for adolescent learners. The programme is broken up into three main skill areas since students may have different needs in each:  

• Word Study - Students develop reading accuracy and fluency by focusing on sound and syllable patterns in words.  
• Grammar - Students learn how written language works in order to improve their writing and reading comprehension. They learn how parts of speech function in sentences and how sentence parts convey meaning.  
• Comprehension - Students learn skills & strategies to become independent and strategic readers. Passages include original and authentic texts of multiple genres including informational texts, narratives, drama, and poetry. 

Personal Development is a non-qualification subject that gives students the opportunity to gain essential skills to prepare for their future. The course credits independence and key skills including communication, ICT, health and safety and general life skills. The key skills reflect the programmes of study for Personal Development from personal well-being to economic wellbeing.  This is a KS4 option.

Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) at Rooks Heath School play a vital role in ensuring all students feel supported and empowered to reach their full potential. They work both inside and outside the classroom, offering individualised support to students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).  Unlike other support staff, LSAs are known for their mobility. They work with a diverse range of students across multiple classes and year groups throughout the week.  This allows them to effectively support students in various types of lessons, adapting their approach to suit different learning environments and subjects. 

• LSAs provide targeted support to help students grasp concepts, complete tasks, and develop effective learning strategies. LSAs support students to become independent learners. Instead of providing answers, LSAs use questions and higher quality interactions to ensure students are continuously learning.  
• LSAs foster a positive learning environment by promoting student well-being and encouraging social interaction and inclusion.
• LSAs help students to maintain focus and to actively participate in classroom activities, by using gentle or occasional prompts or to be actively seated next to the student for a short while.